First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. From the beautiful flowers, all the delicious fruits, the AMAZING cake, to the touching notes-- thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for entrusting me with your wonderful children. I also wanted to thank so many of you for attending our Cinco de Mayo dance on Friday. It was short but sweet-- thanks for taking time out of your day to attend. A very special thanks to Anna R. for bringing the decorations and making the beautiful headbands that the girls wore.
Onto the next event...I hope to see all the moms at our Mother's Day celebration this Friday the 12th. We are looking forward to celebrating with all the moms or other "representatives" at 10:00. We have a short presentation of a mini-play and a few songs, and then you can enjoy some treats with your child. This is an event the kindergartners always look forward to sharing with their moms/someone special, so please try to have someone come. Let me know if there are any problems. Thank you!
This Friday is also the Alta Vista Fantasy Faire, and you won't want to miss it! This is a very fun school-wide carnival with game booths and bouncy houses, a cake walk, food, face painting, and a balloon twister. The Faire is from 5:00 to 8:30. Be sure to stop by for some fun! On another Fantasy Faire note, if your child enjoys baking, I encourage you to participate in the cake decorating contest. Bring your cakes or cupcakes to school on Friday morning before 8:15 for the contest. It is really fun to see the cakes and participate in this!
We are busily preparing for Open House, on the night of May 24th. We will have much on display in our room that night, and the kids are very excited to show off their work. Please plan on attending with your child! There is a Home & School club meeting that evening in the cafeteria at 6:30, followed by the classrooms being open between 7:00 and 8:00. Stop by any time during that hour to have your child show off all of his/her projects to you!
Language Arts
We will be studying the word endings im and id this week. We will be reading and spelling words such as him, rim, dim, hid, bid, did, etc. Our new sight words is this. I have begun testing children on their sight word recognition and I am very pleased with everyone's progress. Thank you for your help with reinforcing those!
The sharing this week will be book sharing. Children should bring a book they like and be prepared to tell the title, a bit about what it's about, and have a favorite page bookmarked.
Our stories for the next few weeks will center around butterflies as we begin our unit on caterpillars and butterflies. This week, we will focus on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and begin making our own version of this book in class, which will be on display at Open House.
Math
We are continuing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit covers number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.
Science
We are beginning our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. We will have some real caterpillars arrive in class later this week, and we will watch the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.
Upcoming Events
One final reminder to order your child's yearbook if you are interested. The kids usually love having a yearbook, and on the last few days of school, we have time to let them go around and sign each other's books. If you are interested, you must order by May 8th by going to this link.
For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Mother's Day (Friday the 12th @ 10:00), Open House (May 24th @ 7:00), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 8th @ 9:00). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 9th, all K classes are on a morning schedule (8:05-11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 41 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies!
Please return your blue bags tomorrow-- this is our second to last week of homework!! We also have our last Cornerstone lesson this Thursday-- thank you to Claire K. & Alison for providing great lessons throughout the year.
This Friday is also the Alta Vista Fantasy Faire, and you won't want to miss it! This is a very fun school-wide carnival with game booths and bouncy houses, a cake walk, food, face painting, and a balloon twister. The Faire is from 5:00 to 8:30. Be sure to stop by for some fun! On another Fantasy Faire note, if your child enjoys baking, I encourage you to participate in the cake decorating contest. Bring your cakes or cupcakes to school on Friday morning before 8:15 for the contest. It is really fun to see the cakes and participate in this!
We are busily preparing for Open House, on the night of May 24th. We will have much on display in our room that night, and the kids are very excited to show off their work. Please plan on attending with your child! There is a Home & School club meeting that evening in the cafeteria at 6:30, followed by the classrooms being open between 7:00 and 8:00. Stop by any time during that hour to have your child show off all of his/her projects to you!
Language Arts
We will be studying the word endings im and id this week. We will be reading and spelling words such as him, rim, dim, hid, bid, did, etc. Our new sight words is this. I have begun testing children on their sight word recognition and I am very pleased with everyone's progress. Thank you for your help with reinforcing those!
Our stories for the next few weeks will center around butterflies as we begin our unit on caterpillars and butterflies. This week, we will focus on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and begin making our own version of this book in class, which will be on display at Open House.
Math
We are continuing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit covers number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.
Science
We are beginning our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. We will have some real caterpillars arrive in class later this week, and we will watch the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.
Upcoming Events
One final reminder to order your child's yearbook if you are interested. The kids usually love having a yearbook, and on the last few days of school, we have time to let them go around and sign each other's books. If you are interested, you must order by May 8th by going to this link.
For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Mother's Day (Friday the 12th @ 10:00), Open House (May 24th @ 7:00), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 8th @ 9:00). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 9th, all K classes are on a morning schedule (8:05-11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 41 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies!
Please return your blue bags tomorrow-- this is our second to last week of homework!! We also have our last Cornerstone lesson this Thursday-- thank you to Claire K. & Alison for providing great lessons throughout the year.
This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hosun), Centers (Annie & Anna R.), Sharing
Tuesday: Centers (Belinda & Anne-Marie), Sharing
Wednesday: Recess 101 with Coach Sierra, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Centers (Claire K. & Alison), Cornerstone, Sharing
Friday: Mother's Day Celebration, Story time with Grandma Gail, Sharing
Friday 5/12: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30
Weds. 5/24: Open House 7:00-8:00
Mon. 5/29: Memorial Day Holiday
Tues. 6/6: End of Year Party: "Splash Bash"
Weds. 6/7: School-wide Olympic Day
Thurs. 6/8: Promotion Ceremony @ 9:00 a.m.
Fri. 6/9: Last Day of School, all kindergartners attend from 8:05 to 11:25
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hosun), Centers (Annie & Anna R.), Sharing
Tuesday: Centers (Belinda & Anne-Marie), Sharing
Wednesday: Recess 101 with Coach Sierra, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Centers (Claire K. & Alison), Cornerstone, Sharing
Friday: Mother's Day Celebration, Story time with Grandma Gail, Sharing
Upcoming Events:
Friday 5/12: Mother's Day Celebration @ 10:00Friday 5/12: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30
Weds. 5/24: Open House 7:00-8:00
Mon. 5/29: Memorial Day Holiday
Tues. 6/6: End of Year Party: "Splash Bash"
Weds. 6/7: School-wide Olympic Day
Thurs. 6/8: Promotion Ceremony @ 9:00 a.m.
Fri. 6/9: Last Day of School, all kindergartners attend from 8:05 to 11:25
